POSTING 4(Article on bridging the computer divide, from EBSCOHost)

All students are required to go to Tun Sri Lanang library during our tutorial times and do the following: Go to the Internet lab section of the library at the main entrance. Ask the librarian where is the DOA- Dissertation online and find out what it is and also find out the online databases subsribed by TSL libraries. Then we need to search for EBSCOHost,and Lisa Net. Find 2 articles related to one of the following topics from any online databases subsribed by TSL. CALL Bridging Digital Divide Women and ICT E-Learning Summarize these articles and post them as fourth posting.

By Alan Clarke; Helen Milner; Terry Killer and Genny Dixon
Alan Clarke is Director, ICT and Learning, NIACE
Helen Milner is Managing Director; UK Online centres
Terry Killer is Skills Manager at Microsoft. To learn more about the Microsoft IT Academy programme go to: www.microsoft.com/education/msitacademy.
Title:
Bridging the digital divide.
Authors:
Clarke, Alan
Milner, Helen
Killer, Terry
Dixon, Genny
Source:
Adults Learning; Nov2008, Vol. 20 Issue 3, p20-22, 3p
Document Type


Bridging the digital divide
As the Government publishes its action plan for consultation on digital inclusion, ALAN CLARKE, HELEN MILNER, TERRY KILLER and GENNY DIXON consider some of the challenges and opportunities for the delivery of digital inclusion
Digital inclusion requires more than access to technology or the skills to use it effectively, it demands information and media literacy, argues Alan Clarke
Technology is a major force for change. It is a dynamic subject, continuously producing new ideas and development. The economic necessity for a working population skilled and confident in their use of information and communication technologies (ICT) has been widely accepted. Equally, technology has become a key factor in society as a whole, with an ever-increasing use of online communication to undertake daily tasks, such as checking train timetables, shopping for food, completing tax returns and taxing your car. There is no disagreement about the need for the population to be digitally included. The Government made ICT one of the Skills for Life, alongside literacy and numeracy, several years ago. However, this has not been supported with the financial backing needed to address the fact that many millions of adults do not use technology. The number of adults undertaking basic ICT courses has fallen dramatically in recent years.
There are many good examples of effective work to assist people to become skilled, including UK Online centres, ICT Skills for Life qualifications, ITQ for Life developments, the links made between the different Skills for Life, and teacher-training programmes. UK Online centres have continued to reach many socially disadvantaged adults. A recent research report (discussed by Helen Milner below) says that 'participants were making considerable personal, social and cognitive gains as a result of engaging with ICT'. This is no surprise because practitioners and researchers have been reporting similar findings for many years. With a wealth of evidence to support the need to develop the population's ICT skills, it is surprising that the resources made available have always been modest in comparison with other areas.
There is considerable discussion about the impact that the next generation will have on society, education and the workplace. A great deal of it seems to assume that the next generation has no problems or issues with technology. The reality is that similar divisions exist among young people as among the rest of the population. Many children do not have access to technology at home and are disadvantaged as a result. Sabates' analysis (Use of ICT by young people in England, NIACE 2007) of access to and use of ICT by 14 years olds revealed that young people from socially disadvantaged backgrounds often do not have home access and frequently do not, or are unable to, take full advantage of school technology as effectively as their peers. The Government has now launched the Home Access programme to start to address the problem. A similar programme for the millions of adults who equally have no access would be appropriate. The danger of the approach is that it equates digital inclusion with physical access to technology. Digital inclusion is not simply about access to technology, but involves meaningful access, technical skills and information literacy.
In order to be computer literate 15 years ago it would have been sufficient to be able to switch one on and use one or two applications in a limited way. This is no longer the case. Surveys of users in the USA indicate that many people are now 'hyper-connected', using seven or more ICT devices and nine or more applications in their normal day-to-day lives. The technical skills gap is widening and will continue to do so. Technological change is well established and will continue to accelerate. The issue of digital literacy is not static but growing. The distance that an individual needs to travel to become a competent and effective user of technology is expanding. The existing Level 2 qualifications in ICT have grown and developed to allow for technological change. However, in practice, a Level 2 qualification is simply the foundation on which individuals need to develop their skills and knowledge. The pace of change makes vital the ability to transfer learning and experience to new situations.
The online world is now an important part of society and people need to be comfortable operating in this world of websites, blogs, wikis, virtual worlds and social networks. This requires far more than the skills and knowledge to use technology effectively. It needs information and media literacy. When any individual can launch a website the ability to judge and evaluate information in order to make decisions is essential. Without these skills, individuals will be seriously disadvantaged, misled and probably confused by what they locate online.
For all forms of learning the key to success is motivation. Why would an individual want to learn to use a computer, become information literate and embark on a process of keeping up to date with a fast changing world of technology? The reasons are likely to depend on the person but some widely reported ones involve communication with family and friends, to learn other skills and knowledge through e-learning and to improve employment prospects. The Digital Inclusion Panel (in Enabling a Digitally United Kingdom, Cabinet Office 2004) has called the reason for learning the 'compelling proposition'. It is likely to vary widely across the population.
The Government has just published Delivering Digital Inclusion: An Action Plan for Consultation. It is always dangerous to anticipate policy but my hope is that the consultation addresses the problem of access integrated with education and training. It should be about more than simply the use of applications, and incorporate information literacy, transfer of skills and experience and confidence building. Finally, it is nay hope that whatever programmes are launched should be flexible enough to allow for the diversity of uses of technology and of people's reasons for using it.
Alan Clarke
New research from Ipsos MORI and UK Online centres demonstrates the wide-ranging impact digital inclusion has on the lives of different groups, from isolated older people to teenage parents, writes Helen Milner
Every day, UK Online centres see the impact of their work on the lives of the socially marginalised or disadvantaged people they work with. They see people taking their first steps with technology, and everyday they see those firsts building into a larger picture of personal development. But those changes often don't build quickly into hard, measurable and fundable outcomes.
Getting a qualification or a new job are tangible results of ICT use and skills development. They weren't outside the scope of the 20 UK Online centre-led projects which formed the Digital inclusion, social impact study, but neither were they the ultimate goal. The projects set out to achieve two things: to explore and solidify the correlation between digital inclusion and social inclusion; and to capture and measure the size, shape and, ultimately, the value of the social impacts ICT can enable.
From previous research we know that 75 per cent of those counted as socially excluded by the Government are also digitally excluded. It follows that action on one front might effect movement on the other, and this report explores that theme. The argument is convincing: connecting people to technology can connect them to new skills for work and life, information, services, friends and family, conveniences, savings and opportunities.
The anecdotal evidence is even more compelling, but by its nature resists accumulation. It's very difficult to add up the individual 'soft' results of digital inclusion into robust, qualitative data. How do you measure, assess or put a value on increased confidence, decreased isolation or the elusive 'quality of life'? Yet that's exactly what this report set out to do. If we are to take forward the Government's vision for digital equality and informal learning, it's vital we establish a value for general skills and soft outcomes, and provide new ways of proving they can build into something employers, communities and the country as a whole can benefit from.
For this research, Ipsos MORI categorised ICT-driven social impacts into three areas: social proficiency, for instance self-confidence and/or links with family and friends; cognitive proficiency, improved ICT, literacy and anumeracy skills; and, finally, improved life chances.
More than 12,000 people took part in the social impact demonstrator projects between January 2007 and March 2008. By the end of the projects, participants were more confident, and 40 per cent had progressed into further training, employment, information, advice and guidance. Working with computers helped to improve people's cognitive proficiency -- for instance, their maths and English, and their social proficiency, with participants more likely to spend time with friends and family, and take part in community activities. All of this was achieved at a cost of engagement and delivery of £163 a head.
We've proved we can make soft outcomes yield hard facts, but this research is only a first step. We're consulting with partners about next steps, including the possibility of a substantial longitudinal study which can examine, over an extended period, whether the gains in cognitive and social skills reported here lead, over time, to even more significant improvements in social cohesion, civic participation, and life chances -- from educational attainments to levels of income and even health. Watch this space.
Helen Milner
Terry Killer describes the role Microsoft is playing in providing technology skills to realise the potential of adults and young people across the UK
At Microsoft, we believe we have the ability and responsibility to make a positive difference in the world. The same spirit of innovation that drives our business is also at the core of our commitments as a corporate citizen in communities around the world.
This commitment is a great place to start and while we certainly don't have all the answers Microsoft continues to take a leadership role in the area of inclusion to help reduce the digital divide through the Unlimited Potential (UP) programme.
Unlimited Potential is a global initiative that focuses on improving lifelong learning for disadvantaged young people and adults by providing technology skills through community technology and learning centres. Here in the UK, we support and inspire individual charity and education partners to continue working towards bridging the digital divide through three key areas of work: transforming education, fostering innovation and the creation of jobs and opportunities.
Forming a strategic alliance with UK Online has enabled us to provide much needed software to the UK Online centres (approximately 900 centres are to receive software this financial year) to enable them to provide high levels of IT skills training to prepare adults for employment.
In partnership with Age Concern we have worked through our UP programme to offer IT training courses that bridge the digital divide for the older generation.
We recently worked with the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority on the development of the new school-based diplomas, working closely on the base for the ICT diploma. Our support has led to the launch of diplomas this September and will see us working closely in supporting schools offering the diploma.
IT Academies run throughout the UK and provide opportunities for people to realise their IT potential, offering lifelong learning and career development opportunities.
The Microsoft Imagine Cup is one way in which we encourage young people to apply their imagination, passion and creativity to technology solutions that can provide solutions to real world issues.
Working with Fairbridge we have been able to provide IT skills to young adults in deprived areas of the UK. This training has given these young people the opportunity to turn their lives around and move towards employment.
The Black Country Consortium (BCC) project is a long-term commitment supported by Microsoft to develop a stronger knowledge economy by improving the skills of the current labour force and providing basic skills to the unemployed. Through a network of 120 community technology centres, disadvantaged communities are receiving technology skills training in the Black Country region. The project ultimately aims to enable job growth and sustained economic opportunity in this economically depressed region. BCC works closely with Black Country Knowledge Society, to provide technology training at all levels, and with the Black Country Learning Net, to broaden digital inclusion in the community.
Underpinning all of our projects is the Microsoft Digital Literacy Curriculum, which is a key component in enabling digital literacy in the UK. The goal of the Digital Literacy Curriculum is to teach basic computer concepts and skills so that people can use computer technology in everyday life to develop new social and economic opportunities for themselves, their families and their communities at no cost to learners.
The curriculum is easy to follow and if you have a PC at home you will be able to study on your own, or with support from your family, at any time. If you don't have a PC at home - or you would like an experienced tutor to support you in your studies - then you can call the helpline on 0800 101 901. They can tell you about learning centres near your home. Many learndirect centres, Microsoft IT Academies or local UK Online centres will be offering the curriculum. Successful completion of the Digital Literacy Curriculum prepares you to take an OCR-recognised qualification, the Digital Literacy Certificate.
The Unlimited Potential programme, with our partners, governments, academic institutions, the IT community, and others, works towards minimising the digital divide and can make a difference, helping to create a continuous cycle of sustained social and economic development.
Terry Killer
The Information Technology Qualification is the glue which brings all the existing IT skills training and qualifications programmes together and makes them stick, says Genny Dixon
We embark on our personal learning journey in IT. IT skills provide a passport to open up routes to flexible and online learning; they are the stepping-stones to success. IT skills are the key to unlocking the potential of businesses and individuals. They are fundamental to building active participation in our digital society. I am conscious of the many metaphors that abound when we talk about learning and IT, but I am in danger of introducing another into the mix. What we need in the IT world is the glue that binds all the various blocks of qualifications and training into a single framework that everyone can relate to.
E-skills UK has recently published the Sector Qualifications and Learning Strategy (SQLS) for IT (Qualifying for the Information Age, June 2008), setting out the goal to describe all IT skills under one common framework. For the IT professional, that framework is the PROCOM model (PROfessional COMpetency); and for the IT user, the framework is the ITQ, the National Vocational Qualification for IT users which demonstrates staff competence in the use of IT in the workplace.
We can measure and assess skills in many different ways, and, indeed, it is essential that we offer the flexibility to be truly responsive to learner and employer needs, offering the right type of learning and assessment to allow each individual to journey as far and as fast as they can. However, the challenge that we meet through the SQLS is to underpin all this flexibility with a structure that provides clarity to users, employers and public agencies alike. The ITQ is the glue which brings all the existing IT skills training and qualifications programmes together.
Recent research from e-skills UK tells us that where businesses identify skills gaps in the use of IT, 60 per cent report that this is having a negative impact on productivity (see IT Insights: Technology Counts, January 2008). So what can we do to address this? How can we not just build the IT skills base, but also record and measure the resulting improvement in productivity? We have anecdotal evidence suggesting that the return on investment to an organisation implementing ITQ can be substantial, and e-skills UK is currently developing a case study looking at the impact of ITQ within a major national retailer. The benefits relate both directly to the bottom line, with higher quality of work produced in less time, and indirectly, through improving staff confidence, motivation, communications and achievement.
When we focus on the individual learner -- building IT skills to return to work or to pursue family and leisure interests -- the same benefits apply. On the bottom line, tasks and activities can be done more efficiently, saving time through more focused search, use and storage of information. But we also recognise benefits in the form of enhanced confidence with computers, improved communications and increased motivation to use IT as an integral part of learning.
We need to move beyond training that is soon forgotten because it is not relevant or timely, to the ITQ approach which adapts pace, content and context to suit the learner. It is in .working with an expert to devise a relevant learning programme leading towards attainment of nationally recognised standards, and requiring the learner to apply and practice their skills in a meaningful context, that we can truly make IT skills stick.
Genny Dixon